Offline device stores user passwords and deletes them if it's tampered with

Offline device stores user passwords and deletes them if it's tampered with

Work & Lifestyle

Gilmo is a device that allows web users to quickly pull up the password for any account without storing the details online.

The information we place online is highly private — ranging from credit card details to personal photos — and yet the average consumer continues to use a single password for their multiple accounts. In order to encourage web users to diversify their security measures, Gilmo is a device that allows them to quickly pull up the password for any account without storing the details online.

One of the most common ways to hack online accounts is a brute force attack, which continuously attempts various possibilities until the right combination of numbers and letters is found. For those who use the same password for multiple accounts, this is particularly dangerous because it gives criminals free rein to access other, potentially more sensitive information. But keeping track of numerous different passwords is time consuming and annoying for many consumers.

Gilmo provides an easy way to store usernames and passwords for each account, protected by a master password. It's a handheld touchscreen device that enables users to search for the service they need the password for. The device is totally offline — no Bluetooth, wifi or USB connectivity except for charging — meaning that the passwords remain unable to be hacked by remote users. If the Gilmo is lost, anyone trying to crack the master password has just 3 attempts before all of the password data is totally overwritten. The data is transferred to the Backup Buddy while charging so that owners can restore their passwords in the case they are deleted.

It remains to be seen if a physical device for password storage will take off among consumers — Gilmo's Kickstarter campaign has raised just over 1 percent of its target, which suggests perhaps not. It's also currently asking for a lofty AUD 200 for a single device, when many paranoid consumers would probably prefer using a piece of paper as an offline alternative to password storage. Additionally, biometric sensors and projects such as Nymi — which replaces passwords with users' unique heartbeat patterns — look to be doing away with text-based passwords altogether. However, the question of online security is still a massive one that needs an answer. Are there other ways to ensure fraud doesn't prosper online?